McCraken, Fast and Accurate in final Derby workouts

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – McCraken, one of the favorites for the Kentucky Derby next Saturday, and Fast and Accurate, one of the longer shots in the field, both completed their serious training for the Derby with five-furlong workouts Sunday morning at Churchill Downs.

They were two of three Derby runners to work Sunday. At the Fair Hill training center in Maryland, Wood Memorial winner Irish War Cry had his final work.

McCraken was timed by Daily Racing Form in 1:00.67 under his regular rider, Brian Hernandez Jr.

McCraken worked after the mid-morning renovation break. He finished his final three furlongs in 35.24 seconds and galloped out well afterward, with Hernandez not getting him pulled up until he had reached the three-furlong pole at the end of the backstretch.

“When he spots the pony, he wants to take off again,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez said the work was “really smooth.”

“I like the way he went to the pole, nice and relaxed,” he said.

Ian Wilkes, who trains McCraken, said he thought the work showed that McCraken is “back into his game.”

“The Blue Grass was out of character,” Wilkes said of McCraken’s lone loss. “He was a little too fresh, didn’t switch off, and that took away his punch.”

McCraken is scheduled to jog on Monday, walk the barn’s shedrow on Tuesday, then return to galloping on Wednesday. That schedule mirrors what Wilkes’s mentor, Carl Nafzger, would do in the days following a workout.

Fast and Accurate worked in company with his Derby rider, Channing Hill, aboard. He was timed by Daily Racing Form in 1:00.90. Mike Maker trains Fast and Accurate, who must be supplemented to the Derby for $200,000 at entry time.

Irish War Cry worked six furlongs in company in 1:13.20 under Rajiv Maragh, who rode him to victory in the Wood and has the mount in the Derby. Trainer Graham Motion said he had the final furlong in 11.60 seconds.

Irish War Cry is scheduled to be sent by van to Churchill Downs on Monday. All horses must be on the grounds by early Wednesday morning.

Entries for the Derby are to be taken Wednesday morning, and posts drawn later that morning. A maximum of 20 can run, and more than that are expected to enter.

Currently on the outside looking in, in points order, are Royal Mo, Local Hero, Master Plan, and Blueridge Traveler.

In other Derby developments:

-- Tyler Gaffalione retained the mount on Patch for the Derby. He rode that horse to a second-place finish in the Louisiana Derby, and had ridden Fast and Accurate to a win in the Spiral Stakes.

-- Thunder Snow, the United Arab Emirates Derby winner, arrived at Churchill Downs and began the 42-hour quarantine mandated by the United States Department of Agriculture. He should be able to go to the track Tuesday morning.

--additional reporting by David Grening and Mike Welsch